Ticket balance

Rarely is a running mate chosen solely on the basis of his/her ability to make a talented
administrator once in office. The factor of the person's electability and the appeal that person will bring to the ticket is often an major, if not the primary consideration for the choice.

There are several reasons to balance a ticket. The ticket may be balanced to bring
geographic balance, ideological balance, or for other reasons.

History

Most elections before the American Civil War featured a northerner paired with a southerner or vice versa.

After the Civil War, geographical balance between north and south became less critical but would remain a factor well into the 20th century, especially in the Democratic Party. In the 20th Century an increased interest in the electoral college lead many presidential candidates to choose vice-presidential candidates from populous states with large numbers of electoral votes. It was hoped that voters in this state could be swayed by having a favorite son on the ticket.

Later in the 20th century, ideological balance became more prominent with a more liberal presidential candidate often paired with a more moderate or conservative vice presidential candidate or visa-versa to bring more widespread appeal. Other factors came to prominence in the late 20th century such as gender, religion, age and other issues.

The trend has continued in recent times, although it is less of a predictable science. In 1992, Bill Clinton, seen as a more moderate Democrat, chose the liberal Al Gore as his running mate. However, they were both white Protestant southerners from the baby boom generation, and most political analysts saw them as similar in political ideology. This brought little in the way of ticket balancing.

In 2000, Al Gore chose the centrist Joseph Lieberman, a northeastern Jewish Democrat who was in agreement with the Republican Party on many issues.

John F. Kerry's choice of John Edwards in the 2004 presidential election was
widely seen as an appeal to southern voters who traditionally would not have supported
a Northeastern liberal such as Kerry without the geographic balance that Edwards could bring.

Geographic Balance

Geographic balance has played an important part of politics since the begining. Before the civil war, a northern candidate was almost always paired with a southern running mate or visa-versa. Since the civil war, this level of geographical balancing is less critical, but still plays a big role. In modern times, voters in the south, midwest, and Rocky mountain region of America are less inclined to support northeasterners and Californians without some sort of geographic balance and vice versa.

For example, in 1960, Richard Nixon of California chose Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr of
Massachusetts as his running mate to blunt Kennedy's strength in New England. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts chose Texan Lyndon Johnson to appeal to southern voters.

Ideological Balance

Ideological balance is achieved when a candidate choses a running mate from a different ideological strain to provide more widespread appeal. For example, a liberal candidate might want to chose a moderate or even a conservative running mate rather than another liberal in order to appeal to a broader base of the electorate.

Ronald Reagan, a conservative, chose more moderate George H. W. Bush as his running mate in 1980. When liberal Democrat Michael Dukakis ran for president in 1988 he chose Lloyd Bentsen, a moderate, as his running mate.

Electoral College Strategy

In elections which are expected to be close, great concern is placed an a running mate's ability to apeal to voters in key states with critical numbers of electoral votes. In modern times, America is generally split along Red State/Blue State lines, but these lines are not absolute. Key "blue states" like Pennsylvania and Michigan could be
swayed to shift support toward a Republican candidate under the right conditions.
Likewise, key "red states" such as Florida and Ohio may shift allegiences for the
right ticket.

A favorite son on the ticket from one of these states could garner enough support to
swing it from one column to another.

Other Factors

Sometimes candidates will try to appeal to a particular demographic group or will try to
make up for a perceived weakness by choosing a particular running mate.

Walter Mondale's selection of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 was widely seen as an appeal to female voters.

Older presidential candidates will sometimes chose younger, more vigorous men as their running mates. George H. W. Bush was in his mid 60s when he chose the young and photogenic Dan Quayle in 1988. Bob Dole, who was in his 70s, chose former professional athlete Jack Kemp in 1996.

George W. Bush was considered a political novice and outsider when he chose Dick Cheney, a consummate Washington insider, as his running mate in 2000.

Synergy of Traits

Most ticket balancing is not limited to a single issue but is a factor of the overall strength
that the running mate brings to a campaign. Lyndon Johnson was chosen by Kennedy
not only because he was a southerner, but for other reasons as well. Johnson was
perceived at the time as being more conservative than Kennedy which balanced the
ticket ideologically. Johnson was likely to deliver Texas and its critical electoral votes to
the Democrats, something that Kennedy and a non Texan might not be able to
accomplish. Kennedy was a Catholic and his religion was a subtle but important issue,
especially in the largely Protestant Southern states. The fact that Johnson was a
Protestant helped the ticket’s appeal in the south. Kennedy was the son of a
multi-millionaire Boston banker while Johnson came from more humble and rural
beginnings.

Even in circumstances where ticket balancing is not overt, there are subtle components
that are brought to the ticket. Even though Bill Clinton and Al Gore were both white protestant southerners, Al Gore was a veteran of the Vietnam conflict while Clinton was heavily criticized by Republicans because he "dodged" the Vietnam area draft. Gore’s military record helped soften some of the criticism about Clinton’s ability to lead the military.

Other Political Races

In some states, the governor and the lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket. In states that allow the governor to choose his running mate, he/she may choose a candidate that provides balance within the state just as in presidential politics.

Although the concept of a running-mate is relatively specific to the United States, analogous patterns could be found in other countries. For example, in proportional representation with party lists, parties will tend to make sure that a variety of factions within the party are represented in the list candidates. Some countries (such as Iraq) enforce balance by legally requiring that a list contain a minimum number of female or ethnic minority candidates, or by requiring (such as Lebanon) that vice presidents or prime ministers be of a diferent ethnic group than the president.

Consequences of the Death of a President

Elections have acquired much of the mass media publicity system used for entertainment, but a ticket is not a "buddy picture." Although the vice presidency has only rarely been an office with real political significance, several times American presidents have died in office, either through assassinations or natural causes. It is under these conditions that the merits or failures of having a running mate to balance the ticket instead of calling a snap election as other countries do are revealed. A president really cannot fire the running mate and then pick someone who will carry on afterwards to the letter.

Perhaps the worst result of all American history was that Abraham Lincoln's running mate, Andrew Johnson, was a southerner who did not at all hold his values, so Reconstruction started out without Lincoln's point of view getting maintained. Sometimes the opposite occurs: the old politician William McKinley had the young, energetic Theodore Roosevelt as his running mate, so when he was assassinated America got its most dynamic president in history. Twice in the twentieth century there were vice presidents who followed the heritage of their departed presidents as well as one could expect. The bland shopkeeper Harry S. Truman continued the general pattern of the wealthy, expert user of media Franklin Delano Roosevelt rather well; Lyndon Baines Johnson accomplished more in the same general areas than John Fitzgerald Kennedy.